Tangerine Tango

It's the Pantone color of the year for 2012. Tangerine Tango is bold and energetic. It was a part of my first assignment at Get it Scrapped. Along with my fellow creative team members, we shared a variety of pages in various hues of orange. To get the most of this vivacious color, check out the article over at Get It scrapped.

Supplies: cardstock: Colorbok; patterned paper: Echo Park and Basic Grey; mist: Maya Road; buttons: My Mind's Eye; other: Pencil, stencil, canvas, Kraft paper accents

I often choose orange when I scrap pool photos. The turquoise water pairs naturally with the orange to form a complementary color scheme.Since this color combo was already so energetic, I chose orange and neutral embellishments.

LOAD512 progress report

I know I said I would check in after the weekend. Here it is, Friday already. It may seem as though my week went fast. In reality is felt slow but busy.  As far as how last weekend went, we beat Diablo 3. We had a great time but all of us lamented upon how short the game was. I did manage to keep up with the LOAD prompts. I am still keeping up in general, though I must admit that I am tiring out a little. Part of that may be how the week went. Nothing bad happened. We took our car in to get bodywork done. It's now repaired. I had the usual housework to do ( which I LOATHE). I worked on assignments for SNR mag.My son finished off last year's homeschool curriculum. This was really the big event of this week. He has been working so hard. Both of us are a bit mentally exhausted. So, I declared we should take a little break before summer term sets in. We homeschool year round and allow for flexible breaks as needed.

What I am now looking forward to is a nice long weekend with my husband. He has a three day weekend. It's still raining here. It has been steadily for days. So more than likely, we will watch a movie or two, play games and I will scrapbook. Sounds delightful to me!

Now I will share a LOAD page with you before I go bake some blueberry bread with my son.

Not every page you make during Load is stunning. Many are quick, but fun. That was the case with this page. This was based from a sketch we were given and it came together pretty quickly for me.

Patterned paper: Basic grey, Fancy pants and Crate paper
twine: twinery; chipboard: Crate Paper
other: cork, sequins, tickets

Part of the speed of making the page came from the pre-made kit. The paper had been grouped together in a game themed kit with a few matching embellishments. I was then able to add quick touches like the cork and twine. All of which supported the theme of my son shooting cork guns at the Easter fair. The cork letters were simple to make. I have thin sheets of cork which I got from an office supply store. I did hand draw the lettering, but you could easily use a stencil. The cork is thin enough that I was able to cut it with scissors.

The moral of this LOAD page...making pre-made kits is not a bad thing. I store much of my paper this way. It allows me to choose items quickly and get down to the business of making pages. Consider making some of your own kits this weekend and see how far they take you!


BTW,If you haven't had a chance to check it out, the latest volume of Scrapbook News and Review magazine is available. My first ever article is inside along with some wonderful pages from yours truly and fellow staffers. I saw some great tutorials to try my hand at, some of which include  mixed media techniques I hope to adapt to my pages. Stay tuned to see what unfolds on that front.

Experimenting with Distress Ink

Disclaimer: Yes, I know it's another pet page. I made it for LOAD. Today's prompt was to scrap about a conflict. So I scrapped about whether I was a cat or a dog person. I do love both. Lately though, the difficulties of caring for a VERY senior dog have left me loving the ease of caring for a cat. Both types of animals are great, but for a long time, I thought I would never have a cat. I had been told I was allergic. I am, in truth, slightly allergic to them. However, I REALLY like having cats. A few years ago, we rescued some kittens which I hand raised. Sweetpea is one of those pictured in the page below. We thought at first we would care for them and then give them to good homes. Happily, caring for those little fur babies allowed me to realize my allergies were not all that intense. Now our home is populated with 2 cats and 1 dog.

  This page was quite the experiment for me. I have a few of the Tim Holtz distress inks but really had not delved into using them. I saw a video over at Scrapbook News and Review magazines forum which inspired me to try using them with stamps and misted water. I also decided to pull out a stamp which I had hand carved about a month or so ago. My original intent was to stamp just a little. I ended up covering the whole page. I confess. I was having quite a fun time with the stamps and inks.

Which leads to me the page itself ( Pardon the photo.It's late here). It kind of reminds me of those times you go to the hairdresser wanting something different. It takes you a while to get used to your new haircut.Well, I'm still getting used to this page. I based my design on Paula Gilarde's Ad Inspiration challenge. I liked the grid design that challenge #49 provided. Grids are often  difficult for me since I can rarely measure anything straight( despite quite a lot of tools designed for that purpose). I felt that adding the artsy water color stamp effect might be a nice way for me to keep crooked lines a little less noticeable. Initially, I used a brown marker to make the grid lines. It was too bright, so I diffused it with some white acrylic paint.

Cardstock and alphas: Colorbok; background stamp: hand carved by me;
pet stamps: Basic Grey; ink: ranger; Jewel: Making memories;
 brads: Basic grey and Karen Foster; other: acrylic paint, google eyes

The stamped background added a bit of difficulty in finding the right embellishments for the page. I solved the problem by stamping a cat and dog directly onto the layout. I then used pen to outline the images and added small embellishments like brads, jewels and google eyes. Now my flat stamps had a little more character. I stamped a subtle border of circles with white acrylic paint. I then added some small punched circles to the border. The punched circles are simply made with  ink on photo paper scraps.
   Experimenting like this is not just for fun. It's a way for me to try out something that may become part of my regular arsenal of techniques. I am more likely to use a technique again in the future if I try it out on a page or tag. I don't recommend trying something new out a page with special photos. New techniques, at least for me, are done on pages which, though wonderful to have and part of my story, are not as important as say, wedding photos.
   I am off to submit my page to the Second floor challenge. I've been wanting to try one of these for weeks now. It's a wonderful challenge to try to inspire you to do something new. Check it out at Balzer Designs. If you need a little more inspiration, pop over to Scrapbook News and Review Magazine. Inspiration is posted on the blog weekly.

LOAD 512 progress report and NSD

 Day 11. I am still hanging in there though I have no idea how. People often ask me how I can even think about making a page a day. I really attribute it to time management and a good creative habit. LOAD pages are not always my most detailed pages. The idea is to get the story captured, after all. Sometimes on weekends, I do manage a more detailed page.
 As far as NSD, well, I just did not get a whole lot of time to do the challenges. I made two pages. So not bad, but nowhere near what I was expecting to do. I had no internet on Saturday and a Power Outtage on Sunday. So I had no clue as to what the challenges were. Regardless, at the end of the day, pages were made.
  So I guess now you are wondering exactly what these pages look like....

Die cuts: scenic route, Alphas: Pink Paislee, Echo park and Sizzix
Flock: Hampton Arts; Buttons: Basic Grey
Jewels: Making memories and Prima; arrow: Sizzix
badge: Making memories; ink: SEI and Ranger
stamp: bubble wrap; Mist: Tattered angels and homemade

I made Fluffed and Dangerous for today's LOAD challenge. The idea was to use the sense of touch as inspiration. So I chose to add flocking to the word Fluffed. I also chose spiky elements to add to the theme of dangerous.

Cardstock: Colorbok; Patterned Paper: Basic grey and WE R Memory keepers
Ribbon: Making memories; Alphas: Sassafrass
other: Brads

Getting to know you was a page for LOAD. We were given a sketch and told to alter it.

Cardstock: Colorbok; Patterned paper: Crate paper and American crafts
Flowers: Prima; Brads: making memories
Rub ons: Maya road; Chipboard: Sassafrass
Alphas: Basic grey; Badge: October Afternoon

This was a LOAD page inspired by sound. Around 3 pm we always here our kitten reminding us to feed her.

Cardstock: Colorbok; Patterned paper: My Mind's eye
buttons: Basic grey, twine: twinery
alphas: Paper trunk, Other: Brads, button

This was an NSD page for Big Picture Classes. I love how I made this with a 6x6 paper pad.

I'll have more to share later. I'm off ot create just a little bit more. It's good therapy.

Load 512 progress report

 So far so good. It always seems to start this way. I keep up just fine. This go around, I am really shocked that I have found a way to keep up with the daily prompts. I made it a point to have all of my page calls and assignments done for Scrapbook News and Review magazine.  Working on their staff has been awesome so far. it was a bit harrying at first, as is any job. Now I have a handle on the workload and am just enjoying being a part of the team. What did throw me a monkey wrench was life, as usual.On day one I was dealing with a sewage back up in the house. I haven't been feeling my best. The landlord asked me to show our house( it's for sale.) Little things here and there, but I have still manages to pull out pages.


Day one was to use a self portrait. I really dislike these type of prompts. Then I remembered I had a wedding photo of me prepping for the big day. So the issue of the self portrait became a non-issue. I used Paula Gilarde's ad inspiration challenge and was able to crank out a page with ease.

Cardstock: Bazzill; patterned paper: Basic grey
alphas and Stickers: basic grey, trim: Maya road
stamp: glitz designs with colorbox gold ink
mist: tattered angels, other: pearls, button, DMC floss, tulle

I am not 100% in love with the page. I liked everything until I got a little experimental. I painted the vine design with glimmer mist in the hopes of mimicking a design on the BG paper is was using. I then stamped the frames to use as journal spots. I have received many nice compliments about that portion of the page. I personally feel like it's kind of flat. It's funny how the parts you love are usually a miss but others rave about the parts of the page you think look horrid. LOL.

Day 2: I worked on my project life pages for February. I am no where near finished with those. I will share the full February pages in a later post. I know I am seriously behind with PL. Quite honestly though, it's not worrying me in the least.

day 3: My favorite page so far.  I have these HORRIBLY grainy photos of my new kitten meeting the family dog. Since these photos were a one of kind/ time deal, I am using them. I cleaned them up with photoshop the best I could. I used a stencil to make a custom background. Then I just layered some paint and embellies. The page came together fast. It's a fun page and I adore it!

Patterned paper: Die Cuts with a View
paint: claudine hellmuth; Die cuts: the Girls' paperie and
iloveitall- etsy; Buttons: October afternoon
Stickers: October Afternoon Other: acrylic paint, stencil,
and heart button

For whatever reason, the Beatles song was stuck in my head while I made this page. : You say "goodbye, I say hello..." It's time for me to go make dinner now. Check back with me later for the Mother's day blog hop and more LOAD pages.

Princess of Purr

   She is very happy here. The evidence is the frequent, almost non-stop purring. Sometimes I swear she purrs for hours on end, just happy to play and share some time cuddling. So, I decided to dub her the Princess of Purr.

Inspiration Challenge #41 from Paula Gilarde
Artsylicious Chipboard Alphas
Maya road stick pins
Prima Stamp in Colorbox Ruby Satin ink
Basic Grey Rub ons, black magic glimmer mist
Making memories button
Crochet flower- found in a thrift store, antique button
leftover packaging- photo matte, chipboard border

   At first glance, one might not notice that there is absolutely no pattern paper on this page. I used the package backing from an embossing folder for the matte. I covered the text using some ribbon scraps and the crochet flower. The chipboard alphas were chosen, in part because they cover the price tag. I noticed the alphas had this awesome border on the bottom, so I cut it off and used it here on the page. A very thrifty page that does not look thrifty at all!

Calvinball update:
1st time player- 1 point
late to the party- 1 point
1st time sub- 1point
layouts-3 points
spreading the word-1 point
daily blogging- 1point

total: 8 points

The Making of a Monster Shirt

  I have a very vague memory of making an iron on shirt with my mom as a kid. The memory is so vague that I am not sure if it ever even happened. Saying that makes me feel quite sad. So much so that I hope  my son manages to have more vivid memories of me. At the least, he will have tons of scrapbook pages to reference what some may believe is an over-documented childhood. Isn't it great to be a mamarazzi?!?!

  Anyway, When I saw Amanda's page for the Scrap our Stash Pagerize this challenge, I knew I had to lift it. I loved the dynamic look of the circles on her page. I also liked how the smaller cropped photos acted like embellishments to support the main photo.

SEI papers, Basci Grey Brads,DMC floss, glass beads
artsylicious green brad, Fancy pants star sticker
papr trunk alphas, basic grey woolie
Cosmo cricket chipboard arrow with souffle pen in white
colorbox black ink

   Can you spy my new favourite product? I began using them on my pages within the last few months. They are glass beads. I have some that have been in my stash for awhile now. They are sprinkled onto the word   "monster" and then adhered using glossy accents. The little black beads were salvaged from one of my favourite evening bags( I was pretty sad when it broke!). I am finding that glass beads are an economical way to add a little more umph to my pages without breaking the bank. I have made my own stick pins as well as using them to decorate pages or embellishments. I hope to add more colours to my stash at some point in the future. Meanwhile, I am glad I finally pulled these out to play with.
  If you have something new to share or would like to pagerize Amanda's page, please pop over to Scrap Our Stash and drop us a note.

Painted Out

  About a year or so ago, I would have never considered painting on a scrapbook page. Paint has become  a staple product in my arsenal of tools. I was glad to have it when I pulled out some Halloween photos from a carnival we had taken my son to. I always struggle with photographing him at carnivals. There are just so many people around. It seems like strangers always get into the shots. When I do come around to scrapping pages from events like these, I often find myself trying to come up with ways to hide the unwanted people in the background. Sometimes I use embellishments. Other times, journaling on strips of paper does the trick. For this page, I chose to use paint.

Frosted Designs Sketch #31
Basic Grey papers
DMC floss, white acrylic paint
Glimmer mist in black magic and tiger lily
K and company border stickers
Prima black ribbon
Cosmor Cricket tiny type alphas
glossy accents
 Marcella K large black alphas

 I just started the photography class at big Picture. So maybe the next time I take my son to a carnival, I will know some tricks to take better photos in crowds. Meanwhile, I have photos of the less than perfect nature from past years. I guess it's a good thing that I like paint!

Cookies For Santa

No...we did not bake them this year. At least not yet. I just finally got around to scrapping about last year's cookies. LOL. Nothing like being a bit behind, right? Months ago, I scrapped the photos of my son baking said cookies. As I was flipping through last December's album, I thought now might be a good time to use the scraps up. I must say, that when I saw that the Sketchy Thursday sketch really helped this page come together quickly.

Sketchy Thursday 12-8-11 sketch
Little Yellow Bicycle canvas border
Basic grey papers
Sassafrass alphas with glossy accents and glass beads
glimmer mist in Candy apple red and meadow
October afternoon stickers
I-rock gems
K and Co. brad
coffee filter

Perhaps soon, I shall get to baking this years cookies. Those photos sure make me hungry for some!

Becoming Mr. And Mrs.

    Every once in a while, it's good to follow the step by step instructions in the making of a layout. Why? It introduces you to a new technique without the stress and guesswork of what to do with the rest of the page. During November, I took a free class at Miss Arts Paper Crafting School. The class led me through a series of steps to add texture and dimension to my page. It was an enjoyable experience and led to the creation of a page that, while not my usual style, is truly wonderful.
   I did not have all of the materials suggested to complete the Layered Layouts class. Rather than purchase the supplies, I made a kit, attempting to match the supply list as much as I could from my stash. By doing so, the page became unique to me, despite the fact that I was following a series of step by step instructions.

Gesso
Pink Paislee glitter alphas
Glimmer mist in frost
Basic Grey paper clip
Tim Holtz metal tags
I-rock jewels
Basic Grey Wisteria paper
Making Memories shimmer flourishes-blue
My Mind's eye papers
Maya Road lace trim
Carboard
gauze from my first aide kit
Jenni Bowlin stick pins
Webster's Pages button sparkler
Maya Mist in Latte Metallic

 Though I may not use everything I learned in the making of this page, I will take parts of the process to incorporate into future pages.
  By completing the step by step instructions, I was able to learn the how and the why behind the page's design.I also learned that I love altering pre-made embellishments to meet my needs. I have always loved metal embellishments, for example, but never really liked the way they looked on many of my pages.They seemed to dominate aspects of the page. By altering them, I was able to give them a one-of-a-kind look and better able to blend them into my page's overall design.

The metal tags  have so much more character. I even think it's easier to read them now.
  This page will become the title page of my wedding album. Though it might not be my usual style, it's very special to me, both because of the amount of work I put into it and because of the end result.

Now it's your turn! Scrap Our Stash is celebrating it's birthday! Share a page or project you've made to help celebrate two wonderful years of using your stash in new ways!

Sneaking in Some Pink and Yellow

  I think everyone has a colour nemesis. Two of mine are pink and yellow. Yellow...I just don't care for a whole lot. Pink... well, I've talked before about how a male dominated household means scrapping with pink is not a regular occurrence. So I really surprised myself with this next LO for the November challenge at Scrap Our Stash.  I pulled out this plaid paper by Cosmo Cricket. The yellow and pink reminded me so of a cozy morning. It became the basis for the design behind Pancake Morning.
  While there is nothing wrong with pancakes from a box, it's really not hard to just make your own mix. My son loves helping me and so, when the challenge to scrap a family recipe was issued, it was the perfect excuse to make pancakes for breakfast. I should do this more often. I guess I am just more of a " let's have cereal" type of mom. Anyway, to make your own pancakes " not from a box", try this recipe"

Ingredients: 1 1/4 cups flour, 1/4 cup of sugar( yes I know it's a lot of sugar. We like em' sweet. You can reduce the sugar if you want to), 1 Tbsp. baking powder, 1 egg, 1 cup milk, 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

- stir dry ingredients together
- in a separate bowl, mix egg milk and oil. then mix with dry ingredients
- spoon onto a heated pan, allow to bubble, then flip and cook until golden brown

It's such an easy recipe! It makes a lot more than we can eat. So I proportion the leftover pancakes into zip loc bags and freeze. I then have my own toaster pancakes!

paper- Cosmo Cricket
ribbon- unknown
BG paper clip
Sassafrass flowers
glass beads
 K and Co. chipboard- Let's eat
Pink Paislee pink foam alphas
Rusty pickle brown alphas
 glossy accents
Webster's pages sparkler button
knife and Fork- unknown
tiger lily glimmer mist
Plum pudding smooch spritz
maya road sheer journal spot- recipe card

  To make the page more quickly, I left the white edges from the photo paper.The smaller photos are all one sheet of wallet size photos, three to a row. Some of them printed in groups with the photos in those rows aligning the same direction. I kept one group of three and simply cropped away the excess white. I cut the two photos which were horizontal and left the vertical photos in groups of two. This allowed me to save time( and supplies) by having photos that were already matted and easy to place on the page.

  I don't have a lot of cooking themed embellishments in my stash. I had a Eureka moment when I discovered food themed embellishments in my travel supplies. Prior to this page, I might never have thought to look in my travel stash for such a thing. I noticed many of the travel themed collections had papers or items about places you had eaten. So next time I have a cooking themed page, I will also look to the travel themed papers.

 I am very happy with the title. Glossy accents is one of my go to adhesives. It allowed me to add dimension to the flat brown letters. Now they look more like epoxy letters and I was able to add some glass beads to add more texture.

  This year, my goal was to learn how to take better photos of my pages. I am best at photographing one page LO's. Two pagers are very difficult given that they often have a warped or bent look to them. With this two pager, I think I finally found a trick to reduce the warped look and get a more flat, even photo. I placed the LO on a travel trunk which reached to my knees. I was then able to bend over the photo and I found that if I cocked my wrist as I photographed the page, the page came out more flat as I cropped in afterwards. So try finding something to lay your page on that is about the height of your knees and experiment with moving the angle of your wrist. 

  Overall, I really enjoyed making this page...from staging a photo shoot with a pancake breakfast, to adding the finishing touches on the page. Yes, it's true...I staged the photos. So now it's your turn. Find a recipe you like and stage your own photos to make a wonderful LO. Don't forget to submit it to Scrap Our Stash.

Without a Doubt

Without a Doubt...life has been busy. First a hurricane, followed by a move,starting back to homeschooling then a sinus infection coupled with muscle spasms. Despite it all I have had a little time to scrap. So today's post will be short and sweet. I made it for September's Mother LOAD. The prompt was to scrap about an emotion. Going back to the title( which is for the blog post and the page itself)...it's a lyric from Scrappin the Music's current challenge. Without a Doubt, I can always count on my husband to act silly and get my son laughing...so much so, that my son's infectious laughter will get me to laugh. Then, full circle, all of us will be laughing and joining in on the silliness. My husband's since of humour always gets me through everything.
I think this page is a nice way to end the month.

Materials: Echo park For the record
 papers,stickers, borders
Sassafrass flower
Artsylicious brads
Maya Road Sheer Calendar
Basic Grey paper clip
DMC floss
Sketch Support 2 page sketch

The First Set of Honeymoon Photos...

have officially been scrapped! It has been fun for my husband and I to go back through our honeymoon photos after 13 plus years. I was a little sad when I found them, though. There really are not many pictures at all. I guess since the honeymoon took place in the pre-digital camera era and the cost of film was so high for a young couple...well,We just did not take many photos at all. I guess it's a good thing those memories are so vividly in my head. Looks like I will be journaling those stories in the album rather than sharing photos. On the positive side, it should not take long to get the honeymoon album done.
  As far as our honeymoon, We spent the first few days after our wedding hanging out with the best man and his wife. It might sound strange to some, but we hardly get to see the two of them since they live on the other side of the country. On one of our evenings out, we enjoyed some music and barbecue at the House of Blues.

Basic Grey papers
Prima flowers with making memories jewels
white and blue acrylic paint
Sapphire glimmer mist
cloth with music print
Submitted to Scrapfit Weekend Warmup #11,August

The photos are not the best, but they are what I have of that night. So I scrapped them in spite of the bad lighting. Sometimes the story is more important than the quality of the photo.
  I based this page on a card sketch on the Sketch Support site. Since this was for the Counterfeit Kit Challenges Sketch swap, I chose card sketch #8 and converted it to a layout.

 I then stretched it into a two pager. From the looks of things at the Counterfeit Kit blog, it looks like I wasn't the only one to favor this sketch.

Baker, Baker

  When I started scrapbooking a little over a decade ago, I never imagined that I would be using anything other than traditional supplies. Yet here I am today, using things like coffee filters. What a wonderfully versatile and cheap supply! I do admit that I spray mine with archival mist before using them on a page. Since beginning to use coffee filters( just this past week), I have discovered a variety of tutorials and crafting ideas for using them. I anticipate using them often in the future!
 In the Mother Load class at Big Picture Classes, we have been discussing the reasons we choose specific items for a layout. Sometimes we choose things unconsciously or because they are an obvious means of conveying our story. In this page,I chose to use a single coffee filter. The filter itself reminds me of an oversize cupcake liner. The texture of the filter paper also reminds me a bit of a chef's paper hat or of being in the kitchen. So it was an easy fit in the page about my son and our holiday baking.

Sketchy Thursday 8-11-11 sketch
glimmer mist in Meadow and Candy Apple Red
coffee filter,cut in half
Little Yellow Bicycle canvas border
Basic grey paper and border sticker
Colorbox chestnut roan ink
Artsylicious brads and flower
Sassafrass alpha-Burlap with glossy accents

I chose the papers and embellishments for their colour and mood. The red and green symbolize traditional Christmas colours. While the papers patterns and gently aged appearance remind of cosy times in the kitchen with my Mom and Grandma. In my home, baking goes hand in hand with a mess. We try our best, but things always get splattered around a bit. So I felt the splashes of glimmer mist would be a subtle reminder of that.
  Though the reasons behind the items I chose may not be traditional ones or even obvious to everyone, the overall composition of the page delivers the tone I wanted to convey. I invite you to explore some non-traditional supplies in your scrapbooking. Like the coffee filters, they just might help you embellish your story in just the right way.

A Kitty Comparison Part Two

  I am generally not one to go back and re-do pages. I kind of get to a point in which I accept what I did and move on to the stacks of photos I have yet to scrap. However, there was always something about this next page which just begged for a little more attention.


Basic grey papers,border stickers, stickers from the
Max and Whiskers collection
Click here to see the page this was lifted from.


Overall, I liked the design. It was made for a Scraplift challenge last December at Sketches 4 all. The page has a lot of good elements in it. So I chose not to completely re-do the page, but rather to add in some of the missing details.

Pens and markers have become my go to product for giving pages a more finished look. I used my Bic Mark it in tuxedo black for faux stitching and for drawing basic lines. A paper piercer also helps give the impression that the stitching is real. The pennants seemed a bit bare so I chose to add some twine to add a little more dimension.  Hand stitching is another of my favourite ways to make a page feel more finished. Adding it to the darker patterned paper gave the page a warmer, cuddly feel.

  So if you have a page that needs a little something more, I invite you to go back and maybe try adding a few small details with pens and markers. You might just find that a quick doodle or a drawn line adds a more polished feel to your page.


Don't forget to submit your "redo" projects at Scrap Our Stash for a chance to become an upcoming guest designer!

Safe as Houses

Any Depeche Mode fans out there? If you are a fan, you may recognize part of a lyric from one of their songs. I felt it worked well as the title here. I am sure some of you may remember me blogging about our cat who we almost lost a few months ago. These photos are part of the time when we knew he'd be ok. Boo was  now well enough to not have to separated from our other cat. One of the first things he did, was to stay close by my son. Where my son went, Boo went. So for many nights in a row, I tucked the cat into bed with my son and our dog. I think Boo wanted to feel safe and being near to his family helped him feel that way.

Pencil Lines sketch 248
Frosted Designs Fab. Fri. challenge for 8-5-11: colour on it
Crate Paper Neighbourhood Collection papers,die cuts, stickers
Dew Drops
Craft Affair heart brad coloured with Bic Mark it in Desert rose
Bic Mark it in woodsy brown
American crafts rub on alphas
Basic Grey Life of the Party alphas

I chose Crate Paper's Neighbourhood collection for this page because the papers reminded me of soft, warm blankets. The colours are sweet and gentle. They perfectly convey the mood of being wrapped up safely at home in your bed.
  While my son cuddled Boo, I snapped a close up of Boo's paws. When Boo is very happy, he flexes and curls his paws. I thought it would be neat to show some signs of a kitty who was happy once again.

Scraphappy.org August sketch
Crate Paper Neighbourhood collection papers, stickers
K and CO. pink frame, cut apart
Foof a la button with Prima e-line Pearl
dew drops
Craft Affair heart brads colourd with Desert Rose Bic Mark it

So while the events of Boo's illness may not have been one of the happiest parts of our life, I am grateful for a happy ending to document.

A Kitty Comparison Part One

  Anyone who has pets will tell you that each pet has their very own, unique personality. My two cats are no exception to that rule. Each of my cats prefers to be held and cuddled in different ways. I decided this might be a good thing to document. So for once, the idea for the layout and the journalling to go with it came before the photos.  So last fall, I staged some photo ops with my son and both of our cats.
  I did get around to making one of the the pages last December. In the coming days, you will get to see that page as part of my post for Scrap Our Stash. For now, you'll have to be satisfied with seeing the page about Sweetpea, my female cat.

Sketchy Thursday's 8-4-11 sketch
Basic Grey max and Whiskers collection: Stickers,
papers and trim
Maya Road heart
Twinery twine in cappucino
Fancy Pants alphas
white acrylic paint
Smooch Spritz in spun sugar
DMC floss

  Sweetpea is one of those cats who can't get enough time to cuddle with you. You can hug her, carry her around the house in a basket, throw her over your shoulder...whatever the method, she just wants to be close to you and she is happy. Sometimes though, as in the photo, she can be a bit of a distraction during school work. She has a tendency of climbing onto you and then sort of draping herself over your shoulder like a scarf.
  In the next few days, you will see the post with the layout about Boo. He is a little more aloof than Sweetpea is. He prefers to hang out close by. When he does want to be held, he wants to be held like a baby being rocked. GO Figure! So stay tuned...

My August 2011 Counterfeit Kit

  I must confess that for this month's Counterfeit Kit challenge, I sort of just did a grab and go type of thing. I am in the middle of packing for a move. We are not moving far, but far enough. ;) Anyway, my hopes are to still be able to play with my stash while we await for our moving day. So I am trying to pack my supplies in such a way that I can still use them. Since I have been busy packing, I really did not have a lot of time to dedicate to making kits. I chose to grab some of my pre-packaged kits to which I then went overboard adding embellishments. I think I have enough variety in them to work with plenty of photos in various themes.

  I decided that it might be a good idea to work some more on my wedding album. I started it last year. I hate to admit it, but it's been a little over 13 years since I was married. I really didn't start scrapbooking until my son was born. His birth and the invention of the affordable digital camera really pushed my scrapbooking career( along with my husband's encouragement). Last year, I had gotten Basic Grey's periphery collection pack. Many of it's papers will be perfect for my main kit and for scrapping my special day.

Main Kit contents:
Basic Grey Periphery collection pack
pink paislee  Parisian anthology trims
crochet doily- from a thrift store
unknown ribbons
Pink Paislee Queen bee flip notes
My Mind's Eye clock die cut
American crafts chipboard shapes thickers
Studio Calico Journal card
Prima say it in crystals
beads- from the craft store
K And Co. Elizabeth Brownd metal art frame
maya road chipboard album
sassafrass vintage brooch

And while I am at it, I might as well have a go at my honeymoon photos. I have not yet touched my Treasure Box Club kit from last month. It has the Basic Grey Out of Print line in it. I figure that it's whimsical patterned papers might be a fun way to scrap our trip to New Orleans. I did add a few items to the kit. I can't help but add stuff sometimes. ;)

Limited Edition kit contents:
Basic grey's out of print papers: 2nd edition, daily news, reprint
publication, bits n pieces, special feature, batik and giclee
Amer. crafts mini jewle brads
Fancy pants die cut- damask Floral
7 gypsies metal tags
Amer. crafts pink check ribbon
Amer. crafts thickers- by the yard fabric letters
music fabric
Prima Flowers
7 gypsies Numero tissue paper
K and Co. chipboard frames
Making Memories Sabrina frame-pink
7 gypsies foldover stickers in classic black
7 gypsies train tickets
Studio Calico journal card
Prima say it in pearls
Pink paislee bayberry cottage cork buttons
Twinery twine in carribbean
Making Memories simply stated alphas
Glitz designs metallic rub on- damask
Webster's pages fabric flowers

For the album kit, I decided to just use last month's Fourth of July kit. I loved the kit I had made and I still have a few photos I did not get to scrap with it. I could have made a birthday kit similar to what was shown, but  the Fourth is America's Birthday...right? So to save time and scrap the photos I am motivated to work with, that's what I chose to do.

Album kit content:
Sassafrass papers and cardstock stickers from the cherry delicious line,
also from anthem and Life is Beautiful
October afternoon paper- from modern homemaker and road map
Cosmo cricket garden variety paper-sunshine
Basic Grey sticker trims-basics
Webster's pages flowers
Jenni Bowlin bingo card
prima flowers
K and Co. transparencies
Unknown ribbons
twist ties-recycled from my husband's dry cleaning
My Mind's Eye lost and found die cut
Simple Stories die cuts

Since life right now is going to involve a new home and also because I still have Easter photos to scrap, I chose Crate paper's neighborhood collection for my Creative kit. I felt it gave me a nice variety of papers for various topics. Finding embellishments to match it also came quite readily for me.

Creative kit contents:
Crate Paper's Neighbourhood collection pack
unknown die cut
Making memories Paperie greenhouse felt clips
Webster's pages princess petals
Craft Affair brads
Webster's Pages Designer threads
Making memories Chloe's closet frames
Making memories Spring pebble clips-butterflies
Maya Road felt badges-birds of a feather

When I saw the Theme park/fair add on kit, I knew exactly the one to use...my new echo park Summer days kit! I have some photos I have been wanting to scrap about us at a small fun park. I can't wait to see what the challenge will be for this kit!

Theme park kit contents:
echo park Summer days kit pack, chipboard and rub ons
doily- from Ikea curtain section
making memories Chloe's closet stick pins
sassafrass felties
Sassafrass in stiches clossoms in: kelly green, orange and kraft

Last month, I managed to make 7 layouts with my kits.I had so many ideas for more pages, but life had other ideas for me. I have managed to add past kits and past kit items to my August selection of supplies. I hope I can use up some partial packages and add to my page count for this month.

Cool...Like a Fool in a Pool

  It's a fun title. The rhyming sing song chant of it sort of gest you amped up for a fun scrapbook page. It's one of the rub on titles from Fancy pant's beach bum line. It was perfect for these shots of my son and husband in the pool. My son was actually being quite the silly fool on this particular day. Apparently, it's quite fun to swim underneath a waterfall...which he then decided to do over and over again. I guess it's a kid thing. My favourite part about these photos is how my husband is always nearby and smiling. He's not one to pose for photos very often ( partly because I take too many photos). Quite truthfully, these are candid shots of him watching our son...which makes the shots all the more special to me.
  I went a little out of my comfort zone for this page. I chose to try some free collage software recommended by Club CK. It's called Photovisi.You just go to their website, pick a collage and add photos. Then you can move your photos around and edit it.After you are done editing, you save the collage to your computer and print.The only downside is that when you print your collage, there is a small watermark on one corner. I cleverly hid it with the ric rac trim and swimsuit style banner.

Making Memorie sabrina frames, cut and painted turquoise
dmc floss
twinery twine in carribbean
Fancy Pants paper and rub on
maya road Ric rac
Basic grey brads

The rub on and swimsuit trunks are from my July Counterfeit kit. I fussy cut those swim trunks from some of the fancy pants paper. The photo corners were my son's idea. I had scraplifted this page from Kathleen Summers ( see her page here- Fabulous 4th). Her page has photo corners. looking through my stash just did not reveal the right thing. I had this MM frame from the Sabrina collection and my son made the comment that it was a shame it wasn't blue. This gave me the great idea to paint it with turquoise acrylic paint. I cut it apart and did just that. It left enough pieces for use of my second, complimentary page.

We R Memory Keepers chipboard sign
Maya road chipboard brackets with yellow acrylic paint, gold pen, and diamond stickles
We R Memory keepers eyelets
ATD sticker
American crafts rub on alphas
basic grey brads

  This is a page of my own design. I placed the photos, in what seemed to me, a pattern that reminded me of the slide's shape. I also chose the road sign for that reason. I used scraps from the previous page with more fussy cut swimsuits. I wanted brackets to match the sign, so I painted them yellow and used gold pen.
  I can feel really good about these pages because I used up several things from my stash that, before now, I had no clue what to do with: the frame, bathing suit patterned paper, and the road sign. Combining the travel and beach theme in my counterfeit kit really helped me see these products in a new way.

* also submitted at Scrapfit for WWU#9

The Magic Mirror

  We all have those papers we don't know what to do with. It has been suggested that I should purge my stash and get rid of them. I find it hard to do. One reason being that I would hate to take the time to do that. It's time I could spend creating. The other reason being that it's sometimes those odd papers that end up being just the right thing. Take Graphic 45's Halloween in Wonderland papers. I won a pad last year. It's one of those papers that has a nice weight and quality but that frankly, is just not my normal style. I used some for a swap hoping for inspiration. I still had a lot left. So there it sat. Then last November, I found the perfect photos for using some of the paper up. Or rather, the opportunity to take photos that would compliment the paper arose.
  We were waiting in the kid's fitting room of a department store. The attendant had gone to get my son some more pants to try on. In the corner was this fun house mirror. As my son began making faces in it, I snatched my camera out of my purse and began snapping away( I never leave the house without lip gloss and the camera). All I could think of as I was taking the photos was the silly Alice in Wonderland paper. The layout was taking shape in my mind right there. I guess that's the sign of a true scrapbook addict. LOL
  The first page was made last December shortly after the photos were taken. I had 2 sheets of this tea party paper. I took one, cut out the center square and flipped it to reveal the pattern on the back. I used scraps of black card stock to help adhere it back together. By allowing some of the black card stock to peek out, I was able to roll it and tear it to create the look of a window.

Graphic 45 Halloween in Wonderland papers
flowers made with Pink Paislee Artisan tape and metal buttons
title cut on Cricut with CK Opa font
matchsticks with the heads cut off for Club CK challenge to use sticks

Some of the elements were fussy cut from other papers. I cut the heads off of matchsticks and glued cut embellishments to  them.
  Sometimes, I don't make the second page right away. If I am not making a traditional two page layout, I may save the photos for a later date. Sometimes I save them for a specific challenge or for when they inspire me again. I just completed page two this week.

pagemaps sketch
Graphic 45 Halloween in Wonderland papers
Basic Grey brown notebook paper and black brads
Making Memories button brads
Colorbox Chestnut roan ink
ribbon unknown
Little Yellow Bicycle tiny type alphas
Fancy pants brackets

I saw the song challenge for Scrap it with a song and I thought I could alter some of the lyrics to make a great subtitle for this page. This week's song is by the Police..." Every Little Thing She Does is Magic." I chose to use the subtitle of " It's magic" to fit in with the Alice and Wonderland theme of the page. Seeing this particular challenge had made me want to go back and complete page two. If you get in a rut, scrapping photos or challenges that you find interesting are often a great way to find your creative spark again.